At least 115,000 people were displaced by raging floods in the last two weeks as long rains pounded the coast region, Kenya Red Cross has reported.
Seven people died in Tana River County and two in Kilifi County, Coast Regional Coordinator Hassan Musa told the Star on Thursday.
The rains affected many parts of Tana River, Kilifi, Lamu and Taita Taveta Counties.
“The number of displaced people in Tana River County was 64,000, Kilifi County had 21,000 people, Taita Taveta had 16,000 and Lamu had about 2,200 people who were left homeless,” he said in a phone interview.
Read:
Also read:
Coast Regional Coordinator Bernard Leparmarai however put the number of people who were killed at between five and seven.
He said some were swept while canoeing on River Tana and that others were marooned and could not make it out alive.
“About seven people died as the result of the intense floods. Hundreds of thousands were displaced. Red Cross, police and the KDF rescued those who were marooned and took them to safer grounds,” said Leparmarai.
“One person is said to have been attacked and killed by the crocodiles of River Tana."
Red Cross officials said they were not aware of the crocodile incident.
“Seven people were reported dead in Tana River as a result of the floods,” said Musa.
There have been no deaths In Mombasa County this year things. Six people died last year.
However, some 90 families were displaced by the raging floods, said County Director of Inspectorate and Disaster Management Amir Mohammed.
According to data collected by the department, 50 families were displaced in Kadzandani in Nyali Constituency, 22 in Likoni and 20 in Mwandoni in Kisauni constituency.
The Coast Water Services Board lost eight of its wells along River Sabaki in Kilifi County.
The wells serve the millions of Mombasa and Kilifi residents with tapped water and the board will need at least Sh750 million to repair them.
Pumping of water at Baricho is done using eight wells which produce water from aquifers found on the banks of River Sabaki.
Three wells are located upstream and five downstream.
The Baricho Water Plant produces about 90 million litres of water per day, with Mombasa getting 45 million litres and Kilifi 35 million litres.
CWSB Chief Executive Officer Jacob Torutt said three wells, which cost about Sh150 million each, were completely destroyed and must be replaced. They produced
about 13 million litres of water per day.
The five wells are full of mud and debris and require about Sh250 million to be repaired.
Access roads were destroyed and the high voltage power supply at the wells stopped.